The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Thursday (June 6), issued a statement regarding the much-talked-about pitch used at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. NY in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup so far.
The camp has received harsh criticism from various quarters and has been considered inadequate and dangerous. The venue has hosted two T20 World Cup games so far and both games had low scores as the teams batting first failed to reach the 100-run mark.
In the first match played at the venue, South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by just 77 runs. In response, they needed more than 16 overs to reach the total. In the second game at the Nassau County ground, India beat Ireland by just 96 runs in 16 overs. In response, India chased down the total in less than 13 overs, although their batsmen struggled to time the ball.
Both Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant were hit while batting and the former had to retire injured as well. After the match between India and Ireland, the pitch came under severe scrutiny as several former players expressed their disappointment over it.
ICC issues statement on Nassau County pitch:
With the same venue set to host the mega clash between India and Pakistan later this week, fans and pundits have raised concerns about the pitch.
The ICC has now issued a statement admitting that the pitch has not performed “as consistently as we would all have liked”. The game’s governing body also stated that the ground team is working hard to improve the situation.
“T20 Inc and the ICC recognize that the pitches used so far at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium have not played as consistently as we would all have liked.
“The world-class fielding team has been working hard since the end of yesterday’s match to remedy the situation and provide the best possible surface for the remaining matches.” the ICC stated in the statement.
The venue will host a total of eight matches of the ongoing T20 World Cup. The next match at the venue will be the one between Ireland and Canada on June 7.